Card handling machine



;T v c. H. STUIVENBERG 2,668,626

' CARDHANDLING MACHINE Filed Aug. 6, 1947 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR GORNELIS H. STUIVENBERG ATTORNEYS Feb. 9, 1954 c. H. STUIVENBERG 2,668,626

" CARD HANDLING MACHINE Filed Aug. 6, 1-947 4-Sheets-Sheet s INVENTOR CORNELIS H. STUIVENBERG 1954 I c. H. STUIVENBERG ,668,

" CARD HANDLING MACHINE Filed Aug. 6, 1947 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR GORNELIS H. STUIVENBERG ATTORNEYS Patented Feb. 9, 1954 OFFICE CARD :DLING merino:

Cornelis Hendricus Stuiven lieig, Hessian, Netherlands Application August 6, 1947, Serial 1%.. 766,764

In Germany Mareh 8,,1945 7 Section 1, Public-Law 690, August 8, 1946 Patent expires March 8, loss -11 Claims.

invention relates to improvements in or relating to card handling machines, particular- 1y punched. card: machines in which bards after having passed through the machine are collected in receiving boxes. More particularly still, this invention relates to sorting machines for punched Car-d.

In sorting machines the time required for r'e-' moving the cards from the receiving boxes after a sorting; operation is lost time. Further sortingcould. take place for" any receiving box immediately' after the sorted cards have been re: motedthei efrom; However, up to now this has not been possible because the cards from the other receiving boxes. of the machine most be removed before a new cycle can be started.

This lost time will, in relation to the total sorting time, be of a relatively greater amount, as: the speed of the -rnacl iine increases and the number of the receiving oxes is larger g. in alphabetical sortingmachines;

The present invention has for a particnlar es j'ect the eli'ini hation of the tiine required for einptyingthe receiving boxes as much as possible; so that sorting can take plane substantially withhiit less of time.

Afzrd'ing to this invention the pile of cards of a receivingbox to be emptied is pushed aside b3? means of a transport element so far that the first occupied place is made free for immediatelyreceiving new sorted cards.

For example, if 3200 cards are to be sorted iii" maemneadaptea to dai with 32,000 cards an hour, 6 minutes are required for the actualsh'rtihg operation. If the time for taking out and laying down each pile bf cards of a receiving box after sorting is, on the average, 2 seconds, then for a inachine having 64 compartments a tihie of 123 seconds or more than 2 minutes is riihiid for removing the sorted cards.

v theabove it will be evident that more than 25% of the machine time is lost. On the other hand, if the time for pushing out the sorted c'ai'ds according to the present invention is only zseeends for all compartments then less than 1% of. the sorting time is lost. I

A device accordin to this invention is illustrated in the drawings, wherein:

I is an elevational View of a device acczding to this invention with an em ty re caving-box; v v

Fig; Ii is a view like Fig. I, the receiving box however-pang filled;

IIIv an elevational view of the device looking from. the left of Fig. I with the era,

' 2 treme left hand boxvemptyand those tethe -right thereof atv least: partly filled;

Fig. IY isanother embodiment of the inven'-'- tion' elevation.

Fig I a supporting element; comprising a carriage 2- is guided along a bar I by means of rollers 3 and l, the said element. acting as a receiving, element tor the cards, or having the receiving element thereto attachedi Between the horizontally extending guides 5 and fi of thereceiving, element is a slideable part I which, at its end adjacent carriage 2 has an upstanding part; 8. To the undersideof part 1' a toothed rack 9 is fixed.

The parts 5 and 6 and the slideable part I constitute the bottom: of the card receiving box, which adjusts itself along bar I according to the height of the pile of cards resting hereon. 'l he helical spring a which bears the weight of thebottorn and of the pile of cards resting thereon, may, if desired, be arranged within the guid-' ing bar l, which then. of course is hollow, or may be positioned externally of the bar.

Extending transversely with respect tothe guides 5- and 6- andabove the guides there is a bar It, whichis fixed to'the upper ends of links it and 12. The links are pivotally connected at their lower ends to two arms l'-3 pivoting on a shaft 44. These arms each bear a roller l5;

The. rollers l5 cooperate, by means of springs, betweentheir ends (not illustrated) with cam disks 5 having nose portions 16a, which are fixed to-a shaft It. 'I'his shaft l1 may be rotated hand, for example by means of a crank handle, inthe direction of the arrow and afterwards be moved back again. On the shaft IT a toothed wheel [8 is mounted for free rotation, which is provided with a groove or slot (9 through which a pin 20 passes that is fixed to the disk it The toothed wheel 18 comprises an untoothed part 21 and is rotatable under the influence of a flexible drawing cable 23-, passing over a roller '24 and carrying a weight 22. The toothed wheel [8 meshes: with a pinion 25-, which is fixed to the shaft 26.

Most of the described parts designated by reference numerals from I lto 25 are made in dupli cate, that is to sayone is provided at each side of the: machine (see- Fig. III) and on the shaft 25 a plurality of toothed wheels 21 are arranged, one for each card receiving, box.

The toothe wheels i8, which are operated. by the drawing force of the weight 22, are; arranged in such a way that the, untolothed. part 2!. limits the rotation of the: toothed-1 wheel I18 so. that it has an off-position as indicated in Fig. I. The cam disks l6 are in the oiT-position illustrated in Fig. I, the pin 20 being nearly at the one end of the slot 19.

At the left, before each outletof the receiving boxes when the boxes are in their lowered position, a receiving part 28 is arranged having a downwardly bent end 29 (Figures 1-11).

The operation of the device as described is as follows:

When sorting, the cards are falling according to the punched holes into the corresponding receiving boxes and are laid down, on the bottom thereof. As the height of the pile of cards in a box increases, the box will move downwardly against its supporting spring a. If. at the end of the sorting operation, the cards must be taken out of the receiving boxes, the shaft I! is rotated by means of a handle in the direction of the arrow. When shaft I! is so rotated, the disks l6 are moved, the pins 20 being moved through the grooves or slots IQ of the toothed wheels I8. The disks 1 6 press the rollers 15 downwardly and thereby also the bar Ill. Thereby all the carriages 2 and their connected boxes are pushed downward, regardless of the number of card in each, to such an extent that the teeth of the racks 9 will engage the toothed wheels 21. This position is reached when the disk 15 has been rotated about 90 from its Fig. I position.

Further rotation of shaft I1 and disk l6 picks up wheel 3 by the pin 20 so that the shaft 26 is also rotated. Rotation of shaft 26 will cause all the toothed wheels 21 arranged thereon to rotate also,'and because these toothed wheels 21 mesh with the racks 9, the latter are moved to the left.

Movement of racks 9 to the left also moves the slidable parts 7 connected thereto and by this displacement, the cards in the corresponding boxes are moved by the upstanding part 8 and guided by the obliquely rising end 29 to a somewhat higher position on the receiving part 28. The rotation of shaft I! can continue until the nose Isa of the disk I6 is arrested by the roller l5. The cards are then lying fully on the receiving part 28. If now the handle and. thus the shaft 11 is rotated back, toothed wheel l8 and its connected parts will remain under the infiuence of the weightZZ and thus turn back with the disk l6. Due to this rotation the toothed wheels 21 are also turned back'and the sliding parts 'l'thereby are moved again to their righthand position. The cards, however, have been raised to some extent so they no longer rest on the sliding part I and therefore are not moved back therewith. v

When the backward movement of the toothed wheels l8 and 25 cannot be continued because the teeth of the toothed wheel 25 meet theuntoothed part 2| of the wheel l8 the said wheels stop. The disk It can move further backwardly, the pin 20' moving in the slot l9. Due to this further movement of disk l6 the rollers l5, following the circumference of the disks Hi, again moveupward and with them also the arms [3, links H and I2 and bar In all move upwardly under the influence of the spring (not shown).

This upward movement of bar I enables the carriages 2 to be moved upwardly by springs or until they have reached their uppermost position.

At the end of the described operation of the device according to the invention, all cards are, at one and the same time, delivered to the re- 4 I ceiving parts 28, and all receiving boxes are empty. In order to be able to commence sorting on the following column, it is only necessary to put the cards of the first receiving box in the supply box, after which sorting may start immediately. successively the further cards are placed in the supply box in the normal'order of succession during sorting. The time between two successive sorting processes is thus only the brief time required for simultaneously pushing out the cards from the receiving boxes and inserting the first pile of cards into the supply box.

In the foregoing description, it was supposed that sorting is completed before one of the receiving boxes is filled so far that the machine stops automatically. If there are many cards of one or more kinds and as a result one or more receiving boxes are filled before sorting is completed it may be suitable to stop the machine and to remove all cards from the receiving boxes before sorting is continued. After sorting, all cards The device according to the invention may be altered in such a way that in case of an operation of the nature just described only those receiving boxes are emptied, which are filled completely or nearly completely. A device altered in such a manner has been illustrated in Figure IV.

Between the guides 5 and 6 a sliding part '1 provided with an upturned portion 8 is 'ar'- ranged, adapted to push the cards to theleft'as described for the first modification. At its underside the sliding part 1 carries a projection 30, this projection being provided with. notches.

These notches are adapted for engagement by a catch 3! under the influence of aspring 32. This catch 3! is fixed to a slide 33, comprising an opening 34 through which the projection 30 may pass. The slide 33 is pivotably connected to a rod 35 which is pivotally mounted between two arms 31 pivoting on a shaft 36. By means of springs 38, the said armsyand on which rollers- 39 are mounted, are pulled as far aspossible to the right with regard to Figure IV so'that. the

rollers 39 rest against the cam disks 40. In theposition ofrest these various parts take the position illustrated in Figure IV, so that the slide 33 takes its outermost position. With the slide in this position the catch 3| with its lower partrests against a fixed stop 41, causing the catch 3| to be pushed against the force of the spring 32 out of the path of the projection 30 on the.

sliding part I. The cam disk 40 is so shaped that the active portions sloping upwards and downwards respectively each take whereas the remaining part of the'circumference is of constant diameter.

as follows:

By a driving gear wheel 42 is rotated, the latter being connected to a disk 44 comprising a recess 45. The gear wheel 43 and the disk 41 rotate freely on a shaft 5|. The disk 41 carries a pawl 46 adapted to cooperate with and to engage the recess 45 when the pawl 46 is released by a lever 49. A spring48 continuously urges the pawl 46 into this recess en-' gaging position, inwhich the disks 44 and 41 are coupled together by said pawl. Itwill be Under certain circumstances it may oc- The cam disk 40 is driven a gear wheel 43 evident. that, when the recess; -45 is. thus engaged, bythe .pawlr46, the disk 43 will. rotate when the disk. 44 rotates. Since the disks and 4-1 are fixed: to the shaft St, the shaft 5| and disk it will likewise rotate with. disk =41. The member 49 is pivotably mounted on a shaft 62 8111102,- pable-of being operated by akey '50. Twobrackets -3'| rollers. 3-9 are necessary; the rollers. 39- being driven by two cam disks Ml. The member 49- is operable to keep the pawl 46 out of the path of the disk 44... On the sameshaft 51 also the gear wheeliZ and the coupling disk connected thereto is mounted for rotation. When in operation, the-key 158 is pressed down-- wardly, the pawl 46- is freed and under the i-nfluence of spring ill-engages the. recess on disk 44,, and thus, the.- shaft 51 and the cam disks 45 are driven by the continuously rotating gear wheel with the result that both cam disks 40 will perform one revolution. Consequently both. arms 31- are moved first to the left and thereafter again tothe right by .means of the rollers 39. against. the action of the springs 38.. All slides 33. connected to the rod 35 follow the same. movement. At the end thereof they are again in the position of. rest as illustrated. The device described operates as follows:

When one or more card receiving boxes are filled, the said filled boxes move into their lowest position. As a result, a contact is closed in a known manner stopping the sorting operation. In this lowest position of the boxes the. projection 31] has passed the opening 34. When the boxes are not entirely filled the projections are only partway through the openings, and when less than a predetermined number of cards are in a box, its. projection is not in the opening at all.

If, now, the key is pressed, then the onerevolution coupling comes into action, and, in the manner described, all sliding parts i, of which the projection 30 has entered the receiving open.- ing 34, are moved to the left and thereafter to the right. Immediately upon the movement to the left, the catches 3| are freed, and enter into one of the notches of the adjacent projection 30.. The sliding parts I. are then prevented from moving upward, even after the cards are pushed on to the receiver 28. The sloping. edges 29 of course must be made in such a way that in each position of' the sliding part '1' the cards may be pushed thereon.

At the end of the backward movement of the parts slides 33, the catches 3! are again pushed out of the notches of the projections 30,. so that the boxes may again return. into their upper.

positions. The cards which are pushed out now may be. laid aside during the rest of the sorting process in order to be added later on to the corresponding cards.

With the device shown in Figure IV it is. also possible to empty all receiving boxes independent of the number of cards contained therein. This will be necessary for example, at the end of a sorting operation on a special column. In this instance, a subsequently described, device isused which, if desired, comes. into action automatically when the supply box is empty. The gear wheel. 42 referred to above meshes with a further gearwheel 52 mounted for rotation on a shaftv 53. The gear wheel 52 carries a disk 54, provided with a recess 55. The shaft 53 carries a disk 56 provided with a catch 51, adapted to enter the recess of the disk 54. The catch 51 is under the influence of a tension spring 58 and may befreecl by means of an intermediary mem-- ber 58. andaknob BB fixed thereto; v

On the shaft 53 two cam clisk'sfi lware. mounted, at each end of the shaft. These disks coop rate withv rollers 1541f the arms l3. These arms 13 are pivoted: at one end on a shaft MJ, and at their other ends are connected by means of links ii and t2. to a rod It arranged above the carriage 2-, carrying the guiding members :5 and 6 for the sliding part..

- By means of springs a, these carriages -2 are.

held in. their upper position and this also holds the rollers I5 of the levers I3 against the circumiere-ncesof the disks. 61:. On the circumference of the-cam disk. -56 a roller 62 bears which: is rotatably mounted on the arm 49' which, in. the lower position. keeps the catch. it out 'of the pathof the. disk it. The described arrangement constitutesaoneerevolutioncoupling.

The position of the disks is suchthat firstthe pawl 59' is made free upon pressing of the key and after rotation of the disks through 90: catch 46. is released. The couplings thus come. into action one after the other. When the locking pawl 59. is moved out of the reach of the-coupling catch 51, by pressing key 60 the catch will. fall into the recess 55, due to which the cam disks 6| will be the left, and consequently the arm 49 releases. the.

catch 46. The disk 40 now starts to. rotate and, consequently, the levers 37 are moved to the left.

After a rotation of the disk 59 through 90", all.

slides. 33 have come. in the position wherein the cards are pushed out of the receiving boxes on to the receivers 28. Thereupon the levers 3"! again move to the right due to the sloping edge 'of the disk 4!! and the tensile force of the spring 38., till the slides have come back in to the position of rest as shown. Thereupon the rollers 15- can rise again by a furtherrotationof the disk BI and with: them also the boxes which. are to bear the cards.

It will be understood that in the last describedv action the projections 38 and the catches 3! are not necessary, because the parts 56'! which are bearing the cards are held in the lower position during the required time by the rod I 3.

In. the. embodiment according to Fig. IVa device has been. provided for preventing the key 60 from being pressed. as long asserting has not been finnished, that is to say while cards are still in the supply box. A feeler ta extends through the sidewall 83 of the supply box pressing against the pile of cards under the influence of a spring 65. The other end of this ieeler is beneath the end of the locking pawl 59, so that it cannot move downward. When the card supply box is empty the feeler 64 is moved to the right releasing the pawl 59. When the latter is kept. in the upper position by means of a. spring 68, the device may be started by pressing the key 89-. If the spring 56 is reversed so it will pull the pawl 59 into the lower position, the device will start automatically when the feeler. moves to the. right- The advantage of the last described. arrangement consists in that during sorting, the key 68' never can be pressed down, while by pressing the key 50= certain of the compartments can beemptied.

What I claim is:

1. An apparatus for sorting cards, comprising in combination, a plurality of receptacles comprising vertically reciprocable carriages, horizontal guide means projecting from said carriages, bottoms on said guide means for receiving the sorted cards, the bottom of each receptacle being slideable on the guide means therefor, resilient means supporting each carriage yieldable under the weight of cards delivered to the associated bottom, receiving mean near a lower position of each receptacle for receiving sorted cards from the bottom thereof, discharge means for reciprocating each said bottom, when the associated receptacle is in the said lower position, and actuating means operable to actuate said means at the said lower position of the respective receptacle for transferring the sorted cards from said respective bottoms to said receiving means.

2. An apparatus for sorting cards, comprising in combination, a plurality of receptacles for respectively receiving the sorted cards, each receptacle being adapted to support a pile of sorted cards and being movable from an upper position of the respective receptacle to a lower position, receiving means spaced from said lower position of said receptacles for receiving sorted cards from the bottom of said receptacles, an actuating member common to all the receptacles and operable at one and the same time to move all of the receptacles to said lower position and to hold them therein and discharge means operable in cooperation with said control means to effect the discharge of cards from said bottoms to said receiving means, said discharge means being operable only when said receptacles are in their said lower position.

3. An apparatus for sorting cards, comprising in combination, a plurality of receptacles for respectively receiving the sorted cards, the bottom of each receptacle being adapted to support a pile of sorted cards and being reciprocable in a vertical and a horizontal direction, receiving means spaced from the normal loading position of said receptacles for receiving sorted cards from the bottom of said receptacles, control means operable to control the movement of the bottoms of all the receptacles from said loading positions first in a vertical and then in horizontal direction into discharging position adjacent said receiving means, said control means including transporting means for each receptacle operable to move the respective receptacle bottom, from said loading positions into discharge positions in card transferring relation with said receiving means, said transporting means including first toothed means respectively associated with the bottom of the respective receptacle, and second toothed mean arranged for cooperation with said first toothed means thereby to cause said transporting means to efiect said horizontal movement of the respective receptacle bottoms in response to the actuation of said con trol means.

4. An apparatus for sorting cards, comprising in combination, a plurality of receptacles for respectively receiving the sorted cards in piles, the bottom of each receptacle being adapted to support a pile of sorted cards and each receptacle being movable in a substantially vertical direction from its upper or empty position into a downward or filled position and vice versa, resilient means supporting said receptacles yieldably under the weight of the cards therein, each receptacle including a part movable in a substantially horizontal direction in the lower or filled position of each receptacle for transporting sorted cards from the bottom of the respective receptacle, actuating means including a reciprocable member for actuating said part of each receptacle when the respective receptacle is in its lower or filled position, and means connected to said part of each receptacle and operable to pass through an opening in said reciprocable member for establishing driving connection with ment of the bottom from said upper position toward said lower position, receiving means near said lower position of each bottom displaced horizontally therefrom for receiving sorted cards from the bottom of the respective receptacle, discharging means respectively associated with the bottom of each of said receptacles and movable together with the bottom pertaining thereto from said lower position horizontally into a discharge position and vice versa, said cards on.

the bottom being transferred to said receiving means in response to movement of the bottom into discharge position, actuating means including a reciprocable member for actuating said discharging means when the respective bottom is in its discharging position, means connected to said discharging means and operable to pass through an opening in said reciprocable member for establishing driving connection with said actuating means, and a locking mechanism provided between said last mentioned means and said reciprocable member to maintain driving connection between said discharging means and said actuating means during the discharge of cards from the respective bottom to said receivmg means.

6. An apparatus for sorting cards, comprising in combination, a plurality of receptacles for respectively receiving the sorted cards, the bottom of each receptacle bein adapted to support a pile of sorted cards and being movable in a substantially vertical direction from its upper or empty position into a lower or filled position and vice versa, resilient means governing the movement of the bottom of each of said receptacles from said upper position into said lower position, and being yieldable under the weight of cards on the respective bottom, receiving means near said lower position for receiving sorted cards from the bottom of the respective receptacle, discharging means respectively associated with the bottom of each of said receptacles and movable together with the bottom pertaining thereto from said lower position into card transferring position with said receiving means and vice versa, actuating means including a reciprocable member for actuating said discharging means when the respective bottom is in its lower position, means connected to said discharging means and operable to pass through an opening in said reciprocable member for establishing driving connection with said actuating means, and a locking mechanism provided between said last mentioned means and said-reciprocable member to maintain driving connection between said discharging means and said actuating means during the discharge of cards from the respective bottom to said receiving means, said reciprocable member comprising a catch for cooperation with notches in said last mentioned means.

7. An apparatus for sorting cards, comprising in combination, a plurality of receptacles for respectively receiving the sorted cards, the bottom of each receptacle being adapted to support a pile of sorted cards, each bottom being resiliently supported in an upper or empty position of the respective receptacle and movable under the weight of cards therein to a lower or filled position, receiving means spaced from said lower position of said bottoms for receiving sorted cards therefrom, an actuating member common to all bottoms and operable to move, at one and the same time, all of the said bottoms to the said lower position thereof, discharge means associated with the bottoms of said receptacles movable for discharging sorted cards from said bottoms to said receiving means, and control means operable successively to bring about movement of said bottoms to their respective lower position by said actuating member, then to cause actuation of said discharge means to discharge the cards from said bottoms to the receiving means, and then to allow return of said emptied bottoms to their upper positions.

8. An apparatus for sorting cards, comprising in combination, a plurality of receptacles for respectively receiving the sorted cards, the bottom of each receptacle being adapted to support a pile of sorted cards, each bottom being resiliently supported in an upper or empty position of the respective receptacle and movable under the weight of cards therein to a lower or filled position, receiving means spaced from said lower position of said bottom for receiving sorted cards therefrom, an actuating member common to all bottoms and operable to move, at one and the same time, all of the said bottoms to said lower position thereof, discharge means associated with the bottoms of said receptacles for discharging sorted cards from said bottoms to said receiving means, first driving means for operation of said actuating member, second driving means for operation of said discharge means, and operating means adapted to be brought into driving engagement with said first and second driving means and operable on each of said driving means during a complete cycle of operation.

9. An apparatus for sorting cards, comprising in combination, a plurality of receptacles for respectively receiving the sorted cards, the bottom of each receptacle being adapted to support a pile of sorted cards, each bottom being resiliently supported in an upper or empty position and being yieldable under the weight of cards there in to a lower or filled position, receiving means spaced from said lower or filled position of said bottoms for receiving sorted cards therefrom, an actuating member common to all bottoms and operable at one and the same time to move all of the bottoms into the said lower position thereof, discharge means associated with the bottoms of said receptacles for discharging sorted cards from said bottoms to said receiving means, a first one revolution driving mechanism for driving said actuating member, a second one revolution driving mechanism for driving said discharging means, and means associated with said second drivin mechanism for initiating operation thereof in response to the actuation of said first driving mechanism.

10. An apparatus for sorting cards, comprising in combination, a plurality of receptacles for respectively receiving the sorted cards, the bottom of each receptacle being adapted to support a pile of sorted cards and being movable from an upper or empty position of the respective receptacle to a lower or filled position, receiving means spaced from said lower position of said bottom for receiving sorted cards therefrom, an actuating member common to all bottoms and operable at one and the same time to move all of the bottoms to said lower position thereof, discharge means associated with the bottoms of said receptacles for discharging sorted cards from said bottoms to said receiving means, a first one revolution driving mechanism for driving said actuating member, a second one revolution driving mechanism for drivin said discharging means, means associated with said second driving mechanism for initiating operation thereof in response to the actuation of said first driving mechanism, and means operable for making said last mentioned means ineifective.

11. An apparatus for sorting cards, comprising in combination, a supply box, a plurality of receptacles for respectively receiving sorted cards from said supply box, the bottom of each receptacle being adapted to support a pile of sorted cards and being movable from an upper or empty position of the respective receptacle to a lower or filled position, receiving means spaced from said lower position of said bottom for receiving sorted cards therefrom, an actuating member common to all bottoms and operable at one and the same time to move all of the bottoms to said lower position thereof, a feeler element to detect the presence of cards in said supply box, and means operated by said feeler element for preventing operation of said actuating member in response to the presence of cards to be sorted in said supply box.

CORNELIS HENDRICUS STUIVENBERG.

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